Of all the singers taking to the stage in the Ahoy this weekend,
Greetje Kauffeld has performed the most times at the North Sea Jazz Festival. The singer from Rotterdam has performed at the festival on twenty previous occasions. During her career, the 69-year-old jazz singer has shared the limelight with many of the world's greats; she has received royal honors and is a winner of the Bird Award. Kauffeld is a very versatile singer who has taken part in the Eurovision Song Festival and is very well known in Germany where she frequently performs. She only developed her jazzy repertoire after marrying producer Joop de Roo, who brought her into contact with Stan Getz. Kauffeld is able to identify like no one else with the songs she sings and her timing and phrasing are close to perfection. During her performances she creates an emotional and moving sense of melancholy that alternates with pure joy. Although Kauffeld has been in the business for over 50 years, she remains a jewel in the world of jazz and her voice is more velvety than ever. At the North Sea Jazz Festival she is performing with the Dutch-Surinamese singer Humphrey Campbell. They have sung together in the past, for example on the album
The Real Thing (1994).
